Boeing/MARC F-99

Last revised October 30, 1999

The fighter designation F-99 was assigned in the late 1940s to the
Bomarc surface-to-air missile. The F-99 was a joint project of the
Boeing Airplane Company and the Michigan Aeronautical Research Center,
the name *BOMARC* standing for BOeing and the Michigan Aeronautical
Research Center.

The Bomarc missile resembled a small aircraft, with a pair of
shoulder-mounted delta wings. It was launched from a vertical
position by a 23,000 lb.st. Aerojet General LR59-AG-13 liquid-fueled
rocket motor mounted in the tail. Second-stage thrust was provided by
a pair of 10,000 lb.st. Marquardt RJ43-MA-3 ramjet engines attached
to the fuselage sides. Maximum speed attained during an intercept was
Mach 3.45 (2275 mph) at 105,000 feet. Launch weight was 15,500
pounds. The dimensions were wingspan 18 feet 2 inches, length
(excluding the first stage rocket nozzle) 47 feet 4 inches, height 10
feet 3 inches, wing area 65 square feet.

The warhead consisted of 1000 pounds of high explosives.
Alternatively, a nuclear warhead could be carried. The warhead was
detonated by a proximity fuse activated from the ground control
center.

The first Bomarc launch took place on September 1, 1952. A short time
later, it was decided that it was not a good idea to give fighter
designations to unmanned missiles, and the Bomarc was redesignated
IM-99A, where IM stood for "Intercept Missile".

The IM-99B version of the Bomarc had a first-stage Thiokol solid-fuel
rocket motor in place of the liquid-fueled engine of the A.

On September 18, 1962, the IM-99A and B were redesignated CIM-10A and
CIM-10B, where the C prefix stood for "Coffin" which described the
intercept missile's launch environment, i.e. horizontal storage in a
protective encounter.

The Bomarc served well into the 1960s with the USAF Air Defense
Command.

In the late 1950s, the Canadian government decided to abandon
work on the advanced Avro Arrow two-seat Mach 3 interceptor
and opted for the unmanned Bomarc. The Bomarc served in Canada
for about a decade. At first, the warheads were conventional,
since the Canadian government of the day (Progressive Conservative
Party) could not decide whether to accept nuclear warheads or
not. When the Liberal Party came into power in 1963, the
government finally decided to accept nuclear warheads. The
nuclear warheads were supplied by the US, and there was a "double
key" launching arrangement similar to that used by US missiles in
the United Kingdom. The warheads were removed and returned to the
USA in April/May of 1972, and the missiles were decommissioned at
the same time.

A CIM-10A Bomarc (serial number 59-1897) is on display outside the
USAF Museum at the Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio.

Sources:

Fighters of the United States Air Force, Robert F. Dorr and David
Donald, Temple Press Aerospace, 1990.